Far away from Dressrosa, thousands of miles away, the walking giant elephant, Zou.
The great battle had already lasted for several days and nights. Led by Jack, the Beasts Pirates massively invaded Zou in order to find Raizo, retainer of the Kozuki clan.
"Hand over Raizo!!!"
As the kings here, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were obviously unwilling to have a direct conflict with a Yonko.
"Hey!!! Pirates!!!"
"We are not harboring anyone from the Kozuki clan here. If you don't believe it, then search as you please!!!"
"As long as you don't harm the people here!!!"
Inuarashi roared loudly.
But at this moment, Jack, who had already transformed into an elephant and was sporting blunt bangs, simply couldn't listen at all.
What nonsense was he babbling about?
He only heard that they had no intention of handing him over.
In his way of thinking, not handing him over meant they were harboring him. Who cares whether you are or not?!!
"Die!!!!"
The battle continued for several days and nights, with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi taking turns to fight, until the appearance of a man.
"What the hell... you're still not done fighting..."
A set of footsteps came from the city center of Zou.
"Hm?!!!"
The two sides that had been fighting were both stunned at this moment, for some reason all looking toward the distant street.
It was a figure with long black hair.
He had just gone into the interior of the Whale Tree and taken some things away. After thinking about it, he figured they could be used as game items in the future.
"Sorry, I might have to borrow that stone for a while..."
Seeing the newcomer, Jack's pupils shrank sharply.
It was Orin.
"Why?!!!"
"How could you possibly appear here?!!!"
Bloodshot eyes burst forth in Jack's gaze. Clearly he still remembered his encounter with Orin more than ten years ago, and even with his Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit ability, it had taken him a very long time to recover.
And although the Mink Tribe lived on the elephant's back, they often saw newspapers. What's more, this was a former companion of Kozuki Oden.
Inuarashi stared at Orin in a daze.
The last time they met was when Oden was boiled, and when Lady Toki died.
"Lord Orin..."
And in Orin's hand was a red cube about the size of a Rubik's cube, covered in intricate patterns, like mysterious script.
"That is!!!"
"The true history of the world—"
Inuarashi was about to say something, but immediately shut his mouth.
The Roger Pirates had come here many years ago to make rubbings of the Poneglyph, and Orin had come along as well, but he hadn't expected that when Orin came again, he would take the entire Poneglyph away!!!
This was not allowed, but…
Looking at Jack, the Drought himself, breaking out in cold sweat, how were they supposed to stop him?
Clenching his teeth, Duke Inuarashi didn't even dare to bare his fangs. After all, no matter what, Orin had shown them kindness, and according to news, after Lord Oden died, it was Orin who fought Kaido. Even though Lady Toki ultimately still died, the debt of gratitude could not be erased.
And Orin disdained using favors to coerce repayment. He had simply come to take a stroll, and pick up some items he would use later.
And whether he wanted to have some fun on Zou or had taken their things, logically speaking, he should help out a bit.
So…
"Puah!!!"
A mouthful of old blood sprayed out, the punching bag king went online again.
Orin stood in place, yawned, and watched as the King of Seagulls kicked Jack so hard with one claw that his kidneys were about to pop out.
As for those Beasts foot soldiers, they were just the sort you could wipe out by the handful with a slap. There was absolutely no chance of some Bat King plot appearing.
For the next stretch of days, Orin lived very comfortably on Zou, mainly because it was novel.
There weren't actually many Mink on the seas. Aside from Bepo and others under Law, Mink who had drifted outside due to chance, most of the Mink lived on Zou.
Even though Orin controlled the underworld, he still hadn't seen many Mink. The few he occasionally encountered were mostly male Mink with beastly features in their eyes, appearing on the seas because of their strong combat power.
But actually, they were quite cute too, weren't they?
Because he saved Zou, many female Mink went "Garchuu" and pressed themselves up to him. Occasionally some males also came over, only to be kicked away by Orin.
(T/N: "Garchu" is a word used by the Mink Tribe, functioning as a warm greeting, expression of affection, or sign of thanks)
Among them, Carrot fit Orin's aesthetic the most.
At night, the Mokomo Dukedom was still holding a banquet.
Orin held orange juice, happily gulped down a few mouthfuls, and looked at Carrot gnawing on a carrot beside him.
"I remember your Mink Tribe can transform, right?"
He was very curious about this, because he had never seen it.
Opportunities to see Mink were rare to begin with, not to mention their "Sulong" state.
And no matter which kind of Mink, after going Sulong, their handsomeness increased by several levels.
It was only because Orin wasn't a Mink. Otherwise he would absolutely have learned Sulong and transformed wherever and whenever, because transformation had always been a man's romance, wasn't it?
"Sulong?"
Carrot was also stunned when she heard this.
"That supposedly has to wait until night, and it has to be a full moon to transform."
"Full moon?"
Orin stood on the balcony, looking at the half-moon in the sky, rubbing his chin.
Why did it have to be a full moon?
Shouldn't the factor be the moonlight shining on the body?
That is, as long as the moonlight is strong enough, it should work, right?
Thinking this, Orin held his cup in one hand and stretched the other toward the sky. Space began to distort, and the moonlight that had been evenly scattered was, as if its direction had been twisted in midair, shooting straight toward the balcony, instantly making the surroundings as bright as day.
Carrot stared blankly at the sky, eyes dazed, and her body actually began to glow with white light.
"Roar~"
Orin took a step back, gently swirled the cup in his hand, his face full of novelty.
It actually succeeded?
First the fur began to increase, fluffy hair and tail fluttering in the wind, her eyes turned into handsome red pupils on a black base, her whole body releasing massive white lightning. With a casual palm strike on the balcony, cracks spread everywhere.
Her teeth became sharp, full of aggression, while Orin acted as if he didn't see it at all, observing this violent, aesthetic transformation.
Crackling lightning struck Orin's body and vanished as if hitting the ground.
He admired the appearance of Sulong·Carrot.
"I just don't know whether humans can also possess the ability to transform. After all, we're animals too…"
"I wonder if Vegapunk can make something like that?"
The current Orin had already started using Vegapunk like Doraemon.
"As long as there's unlimited funding, Vegapunk can definitely do anything, right?"